It's Darkest of All Before the Dawn

Is It Too Late, Can I Break Out?

Two weeks before Felix turned twenty and finally earned his official Hero license was when his entire world completely tilted on its axis.

He'd been out on patrol when explosions echoed down the street. Not wasting any time, he'd started evacuating all of the civilians nearby, urging them to seek shelter as far away from the source of the explosions as they could get – ever since hearing about Jeongin's sister, he'd made a point of always putting the civilians first before running ahead to handle the situation.

Once certain he'd done what he could, he jumped a few times to leap over the surrounding buildings and get to the source of explosions faster. The moment he landed on a rooftop, he found none other than Chan – now an official Hero already gaining popularity under the name of Ultra – currently battling it out with three different Villains. Hyunjin – also an official Hero now working under the name of Ghost – was busy fighting two others, further down the street. Felix had forgotten this was the area the pair had been assigned to, but he was relieved – with them around, he knew the Villains didn't stand a chance, no matter their numbers.

However, as he tried to figure the best way to interfere without getting in the Heroes' way, he slowly noticed the sheer amount of destruction. Cars had been overturned, the street and buildings around were cracked, windows had completely shattered, lampposts had been sent flying... 

And then, seemingly annoyed by the three Villains he was facing, Chan used a wave of ultrasounds to blast them off their feet – only to miss and hit the nearest building. The wall instantly exploded upon impact, and distant screams from inside echoed. Felix's heart dropped and, without thinking, he leapt over the street to catch a woman who'd started falling from the fifth floor.

He managed to land safely on the ground and carefully put her down, urging her into the nearest alley so she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire and, after ensuring no other civilians were in danger, Felix ran up to Chan.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he exclaimed angrily.

"Felix, not the time. We've already called for back-up, these Villains are trouble, so buckle up and help us out—"

"You could have killed someone!" snapped the freckled boy. "You can't just aim around carelessly, you're gonna risk injuring civilians—"

"Then they should just get out of the fucking way, and if you're not going to help us, so should you!" snapped back Chan, angrily pushing him away.

Felix could only gawked as the man who used to be one of his closest friends walked away, cracking his neck as he readied himself to start fighting again. The three Villains were a bit stunned, but still on their feet, though Hyunjin had managed to knock out one of his opponents, now. Before Felix could make heads and tail of what had just happened, the fight moved into the next street, and more screams followed. Cursing under his breath, he quickly got to work – no one was going to get hurt under his watch, not if he had a say in the matter.

But as it turned out, protecting civilians while an all-out war was happening wasn't exactly easy. Felix had to be constantly aware of his surroundings, now knowing neither side of the fight would care about him or the civilians stuck in the crossfire. Back-up had yet to show up, explosions were still happening all around, and Felix was growing exhausted.

He'd just managed to get a little girl and her dad to safety when he heard it – the warning shout Hyunjin let out, not too far from him. Spinning around, his eyes widened as he saw the literal car now flying his way. He tried to jump out of the way, but he was too tired and both of his legs cramped up, and he couldn't do anything as the car crashed into him.

Pain flared, well, everywhere, and he almost instantly blacked out.

.

Felix woke up to a rather irritating beeping noise. He felt incredibly heavy, groggy, numb – the last thing he wanted was to wake up, but the light blaring behind his eyes was enough of a sign that he'd been out of it for long enough.